The following holistically describes my approach to work
The first section answers what Narrative Design means in general
The second section narrows down the discipline to the domain of Videogames
The third section is a design philosophy that I developed through secondary research
But first, what is an
Experience?
Something that the designers
Create
A product or a service that has been
developed for the sake of consumption.
At its core,
an experience of this kind is a set of
Stimuli,
aimed to bring about desirable thoughts or behavior by evoking certain emotions and instincts in the user.
Something that the users
Perceive
An activity of information intake to
stay aware of the state of being in real time
At its core,
an experience of this kind is a set of
Feelings,
comprising of emotions and instincts that
a user is going through upon
consuming the corresponding stimuli.
Simply put,
designers create Stimuli to invoke Feelings in users
But,
what's this got to do with Narrative Design?
To answer that question, let's create an experience of
CROSSING A BRIDGE
Objective:
Simulate the experience of crossing a bridge.
The Stimuli:
-
A river that can't be walked through.
-
The bridge entrance, so player recognizes the bridge and knows where to start.
-
A bridge floor and railing so player knows where to tread.
-
The bridge exit, so player knows she has reached the other side.
But what is the perceived experience?
Let's ask the players who actually perceived it!
"I came across a river"
"It couldn't be crossed on foot"
"Then I found a bridge"
"I entered the bridge and kept walking"
"Soon enough I exited the bridge and reached the other side"
This right here is the player's Narrative. An account of the perceived experience.
But it lacks any feelings.
So, lets try to see what the perceived experience or the Narrative would look like,
if we were to add some feelings.
"The river felt too dangerous to cross due to its strong current.
So, I scanned the vicinity for another way"
"Was that a bridge up ahead? The thick fog was making it difficult to see. Feeling uncertain, I walked towards it"
"Old ropes, missing planks, thick fog... What if it were to collapse?
I felt suspicious of the bridge's safety"
"As I walked hesitantly, the wind picked up speed. It howled and swayed the bridge violently. Fear struck, I couldn't take another step"
"Maybe there was another way? I wanted to go back. But then I heard a cry for help from the other end of the bridge. I grew curious"
"As I kept walking, the voice grew louder and louder.
I grew hopeful that I was making progress"
"At the bridge's end, the fog eerily lifted and the winds stopped.
I felt accomplished having survived.
Now, this Narrative has all the feels!
The experience has now become personal to the players. Hence they are better engaged.
But to deliver on this narrative, the stimuli need to be modified.
Objective:
Simulate the experience of crossing a bridge.
The Modified Stimuli:
-
A river with a strong current.
-
Thick fog to limit the player's vision.
-
The bridge is made up of old ropes and broken planks.
-
The bridge sways sideways from time to time.
-
Sounds of the wind to cause dramatic tension.
-
Sound of a person crying for help. Its volume to increase proportionately to the player's progress on the bridge.
-
The bridge exit, where the fog and the wind are lifted.
Now the stimuli have been redesigned to facilitate the desired feelings because...
More Feelings => Better Immersion
So what's a Narrative?
The Narrator's (Player's) account of the perceived experience
Then what's Narrative Design?
The strategic design process of defining the desired feelings from an experience and setting up of corresponding stimuli.
But there are two problems...
WORK
IN PROGRESS
1. Technological medium that builds experiences cannot always facilitate the desired feelings.
2. Adding too much feelings can hamper the overall experience.
Answer these two questions in the next segment and that will complete this page on narrative design
- Finding the strengths and constraints of a medium to strategize story exposition
- Finding balance and precision, not over bombarding with feelings everywhere.
So what to lead with... Stimuli or Feelings?
In my opinion, there is no absolute answer. It boils down to the strengths and creative (or financial) preference of the big guys who produce the experience.
However, there is one important axiom:
The Stimuli and the desired Feelings need to compliment each other for the experience to be the best version of itself.
Taking a given chunk of experience (in this case, building a bridge),
it is the process of identifying the desirable feelings for the player and then figuring out how these feelings can be aroused in the player using the Stimuli of the game system.
It is, of course an iterative process.
Involving a lot of back and forth between the two kinds of experiences until they successfully correspond to one another.
And this goes for all kinds of interactive systems,
whether or not it has a conventional Story.
As long as the user/player engages with something interactive,
the player will have a narrative to take away.